Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

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The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Activision Blizzard made $1.2B in microtransactions in the last quarter
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-blizzard-made-dollar12b-in-microtransactions-in-the-last-quarter/
Video games are always big business, but especially in a year when most of the world's population is trying to stay at home as much as possible. Last week Activision-Blizzard revealed its financial results for the period between July and September, and it went better than expected—the company made over $1.95B in revenue, up from $1.2B for the same quarter 2019.
The biggest driver for that success is a staggering $1.2B in microtransactions, which mostly came from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone. The monthly active users for both grew over ten-fold during the year, according to the report, with sales from microtransactions across PC and consoles growing four times from last year. Of a total of 30 million active players across all Activision Blizzard titles, 111 million come from the Call of Duty franchise, with Modern Warfare holding the title of COD game with the highest first-year sales. The only game beating COD in monthly active users is Candy Crush, which the publisher also owns since their acquisition of developer King back in 2016.

Steam has two new deals, as well as a new range of weeklong deals:

• The new daily deal is Avorion, 40% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/445220/Avorion/
• The Political Machine 2020 will be 50% off until November 9th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1188680/The_Political_Machine_2020/
• And these are some of the weeklong deals:
  • 东方华彩乱战2 ~ Touhou Blooming Chaos 2, still in Early Access, is 15% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1260810/2__Touhou_Blooming_Chaos_2/
  • Mortificatio gets a 51% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/585220/Mortificatio/
  • UBERMOSH:OMEGA is 66% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1181000/UBERMOSHOMEGA/
  • Sakura Angels is 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/342380/Sakura_Angels/
  • And Dead Dungeon is a massive 90% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/751640/Dead_Dungeon/

On the Humble Store, Frontier has put its games up to 75% off for the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/frontier-publisher-sale/

Fanatical four new deals:

• Frontier has its games up to 77% off for the next 12 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/frontier-developments
• The game Gal*Gun 2 is 66% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/gal-gun-2
• SNK Corporation has its games on sale: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/snk-corporation
• And there's a new METAL SLUG PACK with 4 games at a 50% discount for the next 14 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/metal-slug-pack

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Steam's payment system crashed an hour before the Halloween sale ended
https://www.pcgamer.com/steams-payment-system-crashed-an-hour-before-the-halloween-sale-ended/
Steam's payment system appears to have crashed, with less than an hour to go before the Halloween sale ends. The problems were first reported on Reddit, after which I went to Steam and tried to buy a 59p platformer. The transaction hung for a while, before returning the line: "There seems to have been an error initializing or updating your transaction. Please wait a minute and try again or contact support for assistance. "
Update (11:30 am PT): The problem seems to be resolved now, as we've successfully made a purchase. We'll keep an eye on it.
>> Doesn't bode well for the Winter Sale...

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Playstation 2 classic “God of War 2” in 4K with Reshade Ray Tracing on the PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/playstation-2-classic-god-of-war-2-in-4k-with-reshade-ray-tracing-on-the-pc/
YouTube’s Sanadsk has shared a video, showcasing the classic Playstation 2 GoW game, God of War 2, running on the PC in 4K with Reshade Ray Tracing. This video will give you a glimpse at what a modern-day remaster of this game could look like.
>> Looks pretty good.

New version of Crysis Enhanced Edition is available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-version-of-crysis-enhanced-edition-is-available-for-download/
Remaster Studio has just released a new version of the latest graphics overhaul mod for the first Crysis game, Crysis Enhanced Edition. This new version of Crysis Enhanced Edition is almost 11GB in size, packs some graphical improvements and enhancements.
We first reported on Crysis Enhanced Edition in July 2020. Last month, the team removed its mod from ModDB, something that raised some yellow flags. At first, we thought that the mod was cancelled. However, Remaster Studio re-assured fans that a new version of the mod was in the works.
>> Available from ModDB.

GAMING NEWS

Here are the official PC system requirements for Godfall
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/here-are-the-official-pc-system-requirements-for-godfall/
Gearbox has revealed the official PC system requirements for Godfall. According to the company, Godfall will officially support only Windows 10, and will require at least an Intel Core i5 6600 or an AMD Ryzen 5 1600. Moreover, PC gamers will need 12GB of RAM and an AMD Radeon RX580 or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX1060.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla gets a new in-engine trailer, focusing on the Norse Mythology
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/assassins-creed-valhalla-gets-a-new-in-engine-trailer/
Ubisoft has released a brand new in-engine trailer for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. In this trailer, narrative Director Darby McDevitt introduces the beliefs and cultural values of the game’s varied denizens.

Watch Dogs Legion – Xbox Series X vs RTX 3080 Ray Tracing Video Comparison
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/watch-dogs-legion-xbox-series-x-vs-rtx-3080-ray-tracing-video-comparison/
Last week, Ubisoft shared a video showcasing the Ray Tracing effects of the Xbox Series X version of Watch Dogs Legion. Now I’m pretty sure that a lot of you were wondering whether or not Xbox Series X would be using the Ultra Ray Tracing PC settings. And, thanks to this video comparison, we can finally answer that question.

Leaked Crytek documents reveal Crysis 2 Remastered & Crysis 3 Remastered
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/leaked-crytek-documents-reveal-crysis-2-remastered-crysis-3-remastered/
A couple of days ago, we informed you about some leaked Crytek documents that hit the Internet. According to those documents, Crytek had plans for Crysis Battle Royale, Crysis VR, a new Ryse game, as well as a new Robinson game. And yesterday, it was revealed that Crytek plans to remaster both Crysis 2 and Crysis 3.

Ziggurat Interactive announces Enhanced Editions for BloodRayne 1&2, free to all owners
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ziggurat-interactive-announces-enhanced-editions-for-bloodrayne-12-free-to-all-owners/
Ziggurat Interactive has announced that later this month, it will release updated versions of the classic third-person vampire-themed action-RPGs, BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2. In a nod to the series’ original developers, Terminal Reality, and to reflect their direct work on these new releases, these updated games will be named BloodRayne: Terminal Cut and BloodRayne 2: Terminal Cut.

Todd Howard shares new Starfield details: Creation Engine improvements, mod support, and more
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/todd-howard-new-starfield-details-creation-engine-mod-support/
Todd Howard has shared some new details about Bethesda’s next big project, Starfield. According to Howard, Starfield will be solely a singleplayer, and it won’t have any multiplayer modes. In addition, Bethesda aims to implement major overhauls to the Creation Engine.

The source code for Watch Dogs Legion has been leaked, weights around 560GB
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/source-code-watch-dogs-legion-leaked-560gb/
As we’ve already reported, in October 2020, ransomware gang “Egregor” has leaked data that it had obtained from the internal networks of Crytek and Ubisoft. And it appears that the source code for Watch Dogs Legion has been leaked online. The source code for this triple-A game is around 560GB, and it’s already available for download on various private trackers.